Thill-coupling



(No Mfidel.)

J. TORRANOE. THILL G0UI3LING.

No. 3 4,144,. Patented May- 31, 1887.

0 m. 5 2. 9 m x A f g WIT saws: INVBNTOR:

W BY ATTORNEYS.

" UNITED STATES JOHN TORRANCE, or CHETOPA, KANSAS.

PATENT OFFICE.-

'THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,144, dated May 31,1887.

Application filed March ll, 1867.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN TORRANOE, of C-he-' topa, in the county ofLabette and State of Kansas, have invented a new and ImprovedThill-Ooupling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to a simple, cheap, and durable attachment forthill-couplings, the object of the invention being to prevent therattling of the shaft or thill iron and the axle-clip, and at the sametime to hold the bolt by which the shafts are connected to thevehicle'in position. This objectI accomplish by means of the novel formofclip illustrated in the drawings and to be hereinafter described, andspecifically pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification,. in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved form of thin-coupling. Fig. 2 isa sectional View taken on line 00 a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is ,across-sectional View taken taken on line y y of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is aview of a safety-cotter which may be employed in connection with thebolt, but which is not absolutely necessary to the safety of thecoupling.

In the drawings above referred to, represents the axle-clip, which, asusual, is formed with two forwardly-extending eyes, 11, be-

tween which the eye 12 of the shaft-iron 13 fits, a bolt, 15, of novelconstruction, being arranged to pass through the apertures of the twosets of eyes. This bolt 15 is formed with a hooked head, 16, the pointof the head being carried around so asto extend toward the shank of thehook, thus leaving a space or opening, 17, as is best shown in Figs. 1and 3.

In connection with the parts described, I employ an anti-rattling andbolt-retaining attachment, consisting of a single length of spring-wirethat is centrally bent, as shown at 2, and then the loop so formed isbent outward, as indicated at 3. The two lengths of wire are then bentto form coils 4, and the Serial No.230,540. (No model.)

- ends are carried upward from the coils in lines that are substantiallyparallel with the downwardly-extending lengths 5, the upwardlyexteudingportions of the wire being shown at 6. The two lengths 6 are then bentoutward at 7 and then downward at 8, as is best shown in Fig. 3.

In applying wire bent as described, the device is adjusted so that theupper and forwardlyextending portion of the main loop of the wire willbear against the rear face of the eye 12, the two lengths 6 being passeddownward between the arms which support the eyes 11, while one of theends beyond its bend 8- is passed through the opening 17 of the bolt 15.I I

With such an attachment as has been described the' shaft-iron is notonly held from rattling, but the bolt is held against accidentaldisplacement; and in order to guard against any possible accidentaldisplacement of the bolt, said bolt might be formed with an aper; ture,9, adapted to receive a cotter, such as that shown in Fig. 4; but it isnot necessary that this cotter should be used. However, in certain casesthe spring anti-rattling attachment might become lost or damaged, andthen the cotter would come into-play.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In athill-coupling, the combination, with the eyes 11 of the clip 10 and theeye 12 of the thill-iron 13, of the bolt 15, having the hooked head 16,and a wire having a loop to.

bear against the eye offthe thill-iron, and provided with the coils 4and the upwardly-projecting arms 6, having their ends bent outwardly anddownwardly over the eye of the clip, one of the said downwardly-bentends- 7

